


Have Yourself A Merry Little Krampus

by spikesgirl58



Series: 14 days of Christmas [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikesgirl58/pseuds/spikesgirl58
Summary: Steel is confused as to his mission to earth.  Xander Harris is determined to not be a laughing stock.  When they join forces, there's nothing they can't do.
Series: 14 days of Christmas [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050131
Comments: 14
Kudos: 10





	Have Yourself A Merry Little Krampus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BradyGirl_12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradyGirl_12/gifts).



Steel was not a man who suffered fools gladly. He didn’t like uncertainly. He didn’t like going into an assignment blind and he mostly certainly did not like the snow.

The aforementioned snow managed to find its way into his boot and slithered down his ankle. He stomped his foot, instantly regretting the move as the snow settled in the bridge of his arch. 

Steel was angry. There wasn’t supposed to be snow here. This place was too hot for snow, so the fact that there were piles of it everywhere annoyed him.

Worst of all, he was alone. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle things on his own, but he’d come to rely upon Sapphire’s more human approach to situations. He also missed her, although he’d not tell anyone that upon pain of being smelted.

All he needed now was a – a snowball hit him square in the back of the head.

Xander Harris was not happy. He hated being thought the fool. No one would listen to him. He tried to tell Buffy that what he saw was real. She laughed and told him to pull her other leg. 

“ _Bad Santa_ has really ruined it for everyone,” he muttered. “Worse than that, it wasn’t that good a movie to begin with.” He threw a handful of snow at a tree.

No one ever paid any heed to what he said. Not even Anya listened, not that listening was ever her strong point. It was always, “Isn’t that nice, Xander? Your science teacher is a giant bug. Aren’t you funny, Xander, suggesting the swim team has been taken over by demons? 

He’d show them. He’d drag that stupid demon back by the scruff of his neck if he had to in order to get them to pay attention to him. 

He pushed through some shrubs surrounding a Christmas tree lot and saw the demon, moving slowly through them with a bunch of scary demon toys darting in and out of his robe. 

It was late and the lot was empty, save for piles of quickly melting snow. The lot had used the lure of a snow storm to drag people in. Considering how many trees were gone, it had been successful. The snow machine stood quiet now, ready to begin churning up more snow in the morning.

Xander’s resolve was starting to crumble when he saw a man, shoulders hunched, expression grim heading straight for the demon.

Xander couldn’t yell, so he did the next best thing. He scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at the guy. It was dead on target and the man spun.

Xander could see the anger in his eyes as the man stormed up to him. He was about to shout when Xander clamped a hand over his mouth and pointed. The demon was looking about, as if he’d heard something. Xander brought a finger to his lips and shook his head.

For a long moment, Steel thought all sorts of revenge upon the young man, a boy, really, who had thrown the snowball. He marched resolutely over to the boy, but was surprised when he placed a hand over Steel’s mouth and shook his head.

Then Steel saw why. The figure was tall and covered with dark fur, although Steel couldn’t tell if it was really fur or a long coat of some sort. It had long goat-like horns and a beard as well as a long tongue that roiled out of its mouth. On its back was a basket and one hand held a thick bundle of sticks.

The fear in the boy’s eyes relayed the message loud and clear. Steel remained silent.

After a long moment, the creature moved away in the opposite direction. Only after he was out of sight, did either men relax.

“I’m sorry I hit you. I didn’t want you to attract his attention.”

“What is it?”

“Krampus.”

“Who?”

“You’ve heard about jolly old St. Nick. That’s his counterpart. Instead of bringing toys, he comes along and punishes bad children. He beats them with willow sticks and if they are particularly bad, he hauls them off.” The young man looked around, uncomfortable in the lot now. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Reluctantly, Steel followed the young man out onto the street and breathed a sigh of relief. The snow was gone and the air warmed. The moment the young man looked away, Steel’s clothes morphed from a heavy jacket and boots to a three piece suit and perfectly polished shoes.

The young man turned back and stared for a moment, then shook his head. “Hi, my name is Xander Harris. Welcome to Sunnydale.” He stuck his hand out.

After a moment, Steel took it and shook it. “I am Steel.”

“Sounds like the name of a porn star,” Xander said, then paled. “I’m sorry. I spend too much time with Anya.”

The term meant nothing to Steel, so he filed it away. “You were explaining what that creature was.”

“Um, a demon.”

“Yes?” 

That seemed to startle his companion. “You are… um… okay with a demon?”

“After you’ve nearly been murdered by a ghost, very little surprises you.” Steel wondered if he should have said that, but it seemed to put Xander at ease.

“Boy, I hear you on that. Some of them are such spazes. Anyhow, according to what I read, they think he got his start in Austria or might have origins with pre-Christian alpine traditions, hence the horns, the hooves and the tongue.”

Steel was secretly quite pleased that he’d found such a font of knowledge. Of course, it didn’t help him with his mission… whatever that might be. “Why is he here?”

“It’s _Krampusnacht_ , the 5th of December. He’s kinda cleaning house, getting rid of all the bad apples so that St. Nick won’t have to do any heavy lifting… like my Uncle Mitch. He says it’s his hernia, but I know better.”

Steel gave up trying to follow everything the man said. Most of it was a mystery. “Why were you seeking him out?”

“Because no one believes me… ever!” Xander plopped down on a bench and crossed his arms. “Just once, I wish they would believe me.”

“Why?” Xander’s eyes widened at the question and Steel felt it necessary to continue. “Why is this so important to you?”

“I… don’t like being treated like I’m an accessory. I’m important. I have worth.”

Steel smiled then and nodded slowly. I understand.” He paused for a moment and his smile grew. “Would you like to do something about it?”

Steel moved slowly down the corridor, ignoring the stares and expressions of his co-Elementals. His clothes still stunk of brimstone and smoldered in a few places. It had been worth it to plop Krampus down in the middle of Xander’s friends and remind them that it was both dangerous to ignore people when they had something to say and to put things away when they were taken out. 

The red-haired witch had stammered then, something about wanting to teach some classmates a lesson. Krampus was annoyed, but seemed to understand.

While Krampus stared daggers at Steel as he clomped from the library, and Xander’s friends gathered around him, all chattering like birds, not just about Krampus, but also the mysterious stranger.

Steel left before anyone could turn a question to him and returned back to headquarters. He still wasn’t certain why he’d been sent to earth. Certainly, there had been no issue with time that he could tell.

“Steel?” Sapphire came up to him and made a face, holding her hand to her nose. “My word, what have you been up to?”

“Apparently furthering my human education.” He morphed out of his ruined suit into something cleaner. 

“I take it that it was successful?”

“Very, but may I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Sapphire, what’s a porn star?”


End file.
